(e) John Cena
JOHN CENA
Wrestler: John Cena
Real Name: John Felix Anthony Cena
Born: 23 April 1977
Residence: West Newbury, Massachusettes
Finishers: FU
STFU
Cena started training to become a professional wrestler in 1999 at Ultimate Pro Wrestling's (UPW) California-based "Ultimate University" operated by Rick Bassman. Once he was placed into an in-ring role, Cena began using a semi-robotic character known as "The Prototype". Some of this period of his career was documented in the Discovery Channel program Inside Pro Wrestling School. He held the UPW Heavyweight Championship for 27 days in April 2000. Cena wrestled for the UPW until March 2001.
On October 10, 2000, while billed as The Prototype, Cena made his unofficial debut for then World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on a SmackDown! taping in a dark match against Mikey Richardson, which he lost. He received another tryout on January 9, 2001 at a SmackDown! taping in Oakland, California, this time defeating Aaron Aguilera. Cena wrestled again in a dark match at a SmackDown! taping on March 13.
In 2001, Cena signed a developmental contract with the WWF. He was assigned to its developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). During his time there, Cena wrestled under the ring name The Prototype. He held the OVW Heavyweight Championship for three months and the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (with Rico Constantino) for two months.
Through 2001, Cena would receive four more tryouts with the WWF as he wrestled multiple enhancement talent wrestlers in both WWF house shows and dark matches. Through the early months of 2002, Cena constantly found himself on the losing side of the matches he wrestled in against the likes of Shelton Benjamin and Tommy Dreamer.
Cena made his WWE television debut on the June 27, 2002 episode of SmackDown by answering an open challenge by Kurt Angle. After declaring that he possessed "ruthless aggression", Cena gave Angle a hard fight and only lost by a pinning combination. After the match, Cena was congratulated by The Undertaker, Rikishi, Faarooq and Billy Kidman.
Through 2001, Cena would receive four more tryouts with the WWF as he wrestled multiple enhancement talent wrestlers in both WWF house shows and dark matches. Through the early months of 2002, Cena constantly found himself on the losing side of the matches he wrestled in against the likes of Shelton Benjamin and Tommy Dreamer.
Cena made his WWE television debut on the June 27, 2002 episode of SmackDown by answering an open challenge by Kurt Angle. After declaring that he possessed "ruthless aggression", Cena gave Angle a hard fight and only lost by a pinning combination. After the match, Cena was congratulated by The Undertaker, Rikishi, Faarooq and Billy Kidman.
Following the near-win, Cena became a fan favorite and started feuding with Chris Jericho, defeating Jericho at Vengeance. In October, Cena and Billy Kidman took part in a tag team tournament to crown the first WWE Tag Team Champions of the SmackDown! brand, losing in the first round. The next week, Cena turned on and attacked Kidman, blaming him for their loss, becoming a villain for the first and only time in his career.
Shortly after the Kidman attack, on a Halloween themed episode of SmackDown!, Cena dressed as Vanilla Ice performing a freestyle rap. The next week, Cena received a new character: a rapper who cut promos while rhyming. As the gimmick grew, Cena began adopting a variant of the 1980s WWF logo – dropping the "F" – as his "signature symbol", along with the slogan "Word Life". Moreover, he was joined by an enforcer, Bull Buchanan, who was rechristened B-2 (also written B² and pronounced "B-Squared"). Buchanan was later replaced by Red Dogg, until he was sent to the Raw brand in February.
For the first half of 2003, Cena sought the WWE Championship and chased the reigning champion, Brock Lesnar after WrestleMania XIX, first having to go through Chris Benoit, who mocked him by wearing a "Toothless Aggression" shirt.[41][42][43] Cena won a number one contender's tournament against Lesnar at Backlash. However, Cena was defeated by Lesnar. At Vengeance, Cena lost a singles match against The Undertaker.
At the end of the year, Cena became a fan favorite again when he joined Kurt Angle as a member of his team at Survivor Series.
In early 2004, Cena participated in the Royal Rumble match at the 2004 Royal Rumble, making it to the final six before being eliminated by Big Show. The Royal Rumble elimination led to a feud with Big Show, which Cena won the United States Championship from Big Show at WrestleMania XX. The reign ended almost four months later, when he was stripped of the belt on July 8 by Angle after he accidentally knocked him over, thus attacking an official.
Cena won the championship back defeating Booker T in a best of five series that culminated at No Mercy, only to lose it to the débuting Carlito Caribbean Cool the next week. After the loss to Carlito, the duo began a feud, which resulted in Cena allegedly being stabbed in the kidney while at a Boston-area nightclub by Carlito's bodyguard, Jesús. This worked injury was used to keep Cena out of action for a month while Cena was filming The Marine. Immediately on his return in November, Cena won the United States Championship back from Carlito.
In early 2004, Cena participated in the Royal Rumble match at the 2004 Royal Rumble, making it to the final six before being eliminated by Big Show. The Royal Rumble elimination led to a feud with Big Show, which Cena won the United States Championship from Big Show at WrestleMania XX. The reign ended almost four months later, when he was stripped of the belt on July 8 by Angle after he accidentally knocked him over, thus attacking an official.
Cena won the championship back defeating Booker T in a best of five series that culminated at No Mercy, only to lose it to the débuting Carlito Caribbean Cool the next week. After the loss to Carlito, the duo began a feud, which resulted in Cena allegedly being stabbed in the kidney while at a Boston-area nightclub by Carlito's bodyguard, Jesús. This worked injury was used to keep Cena out of action for a month while Cena was filming The Marine. Immediately on his return in November, Cena won the United States Championship back from Carlito.
Cena was drafted to the Raw brand on June 6, 2005, becoming the first wrestler selected in the annual draft lottery. Cena immediately entered a feud with Eric Bischoff, after refusing to participate in the "war" against the Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) roster at One Night Stand. With Bischoff vowing to make Cena's stint on Raw difficult, he hand picked Jericho to take Cena's championship from him. During their feud, even though Cena was portrayed as the "face" and Jericho as the "heel", a vocal section of live crowds, nonetheless, were cheering Jericho during their matches. Crowds started to heavily boo Cena during his next feud with Kurt Angle, who took over as Bischoff's hand-picked number-one contender after Cena defeated Jericho in a You're Fired match on the August 22 Raw. Cena held on to his championship through his feud with Angle, losing to him by disqualification at Unforgiven and pinning him at Survivor Series. The feud with Angle also saw Cena add a secondary, submission based, finishing maneuver – the STFU (a stepover toehold sleeper, though named for a stepover toehold facelock) – when he was put into a triple threat Submissions Only match on the November 28 Raw.
At New Year's Revolution, Cena participated in the main event Elimination Chamber match where he retained the WWE Championship when he pinned Carlito. Immediately after a bloodied Cena won, Edge made his way to the ring to cash in his Money in the Bank contract – a "guaranteed title match for the WWE Champion at a time and place of the owner's choosing." Two quick spears allowed Edge to pin Cena, winning him the championship. Three weeks later, Cena won the championship back at the Royal Rumble. After winning the championship, Cena began feuding with Triple H, in which the crowd again started booing Cena and cheering the intended villain, Triple H, after being mostly cheered the last few months.
Cena beat Triple H at WrestleMania 22 to retain his WWE Championship. The negative reaction towards Cena intensified when facing Rob Van Dam at One Night Stand. Taking place in front of a boisterous crowd of mostly original ECW fans at the Hammerstein Ballroom, Cena was met with raucous jeering and chants of "Fuck you, Cena", "You can't wrestle", and "Same old shit". When he began performing different moves into the match, the fans began chanting "You still suck". Cena lost the WWE Championship at One Night Stand, with Van Dam pinning Cena after interference from Edge.
In July, Edge won the championship from Van Dam in a triple threat match that also involved Cena, re-igniting the feud between him and Cena from earlier in the year. After Edge went about retaining the title by dubious means – getting himself disqualified (for which championships do not change hands) and using brass knuckles – he introduced his own version of Cena's "custom" belt, this one with his logo placed on the spinner. Cena eventually won the championship back in a match and arena of Edge's choice: a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at Unforgiven at the Air Canada Centre in Edge's hometown of Toronto, Ontario, Canada after FU'ing Edge through two tables off a ladder. The match had a stipulation that, had Cena lost, he would have left the Raw brand for SmackDown. Cena returned his version of the spinner belt on the next night's Raw.
On the heels of his feud with Edge, Cena was placed in an inter-brand angle to determine the "Champion of Champions" – or which was the most dominant champion in WWE's three brands. Cena, the World Heavyweight Champion King Booker, and the ECW World Champion Big Show engaged in a mini-feud leading to a triple threat match at Cyber Sunday, with the viewers voting on which of the three championships would be placed on the line. At the same time, Cena became involved in a storyline with non-wrestler Kevin Federline, when he began appearing on Raw with Johnny Nitro and Melina. After getting into a worked physical altercation with Federline on Raw, Federline appeared at Cyber Sunday to hit Cena with the World Heavyweight Championship during the match, helping King Booker retain his championship. 2006 ended with Cena beginning a feud with the undefeated Umaga over the WWE Championship, while 2007 began with the end of his storyline with Kevin Federline. On the first Raw of the new year, Cena was pinned by Federline with an assist from Umaga, although later in the night he was able to get his hands on Federline performing an FU on him.
One night after the Royal Rumble, an impromptu team of Cena and Shawn Michaels defeated Rated-RKO (Edge and Randy Orton) for the World Tag Team Championship, making Cena a double champion. On the April 2 episode of Raw, after losing a WWE Championship match to Cena at WrestleMania 23, Michaels turned on Cena, costing them the championship in the second of two 10 team battles royals, by throwing Cena over the top rope and eliminating the team. The Hardys (Matt and Jeff) eventually won the match and the championship.
For the rest of the month, Cena feuded with Michaels, Orton, and Edge until The Great Khali declared his intentions to challenge for Cena's championship attacking and "laying out" all three of the top contenders before assaulting Cena himself and stealing the physical belt. For the next two months, Cena feuded with Khali over the championship, eventually becoming the first person in WWE to defeat him by submission at Judgment Day and then by pinfall at One Night Stand.Later that summer, Randy Orton was named the number one contender for the WWE Championship, starting a feud between the two. Leading up to SummerSlam, Orton delivered a number of sneak-attacks, performing three RKOs to Cena, but in the actual match, Cena retained the championship. A rematch between the two occurred at Unforgiven, with Orton winning by disqualification after Cena ignored the referee's instructions and continued to beat on him in the corner.
During a match with Mr. Kennedy on the October 1, 2007 episode of Raw, Cena suffered a legitimate torn pectoral muscle while executing a hip toss. Though finishing the match and taking part in the scripted attack by Randy Orton after the match, surgery the following day found that his pectoralis major muscle was torn completely from the bone, estimating at the time to require seven months to a year of rehabilitation. As a result, Cena was stripped of the title by Mr. McMahon on the next night's episode of ECW, ending what was the longest WWE Championship reign in over 19 years.
Cena's surgery was performed by orthopedic surgeon James Andrews at St. Vincent's Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama. Two weeks later, in a video update on WWE.com, Dr. Andrews and Cena's physical trainer both said that he was several weeks ahead of where he was expected to be in his rehabilitation at that time. Despite his injury, Cena attended the annual WWE's Tribute to the Troops show filmed at Camp Speicher in Tikrit, Iraq on December 7, and aired on December 24.
Cena made a surprise return as the final participant of the Royal Rumble match, winning the match, and the traditional WrestleMania title shot, by last eliminating Triple H. Instead of waiting until WrestleMania, the title shot was cashed in against then WWE Champion Randy Orton at February's No Way Out pay-per-view in a match where Cena won by disqualification, resulting in him not getting the championship.
The night after No Way Out, Cena was placed back into WrestleMania XXIV's WWE Championship match, making it a triple threat match also involving Triple H, during which he was pinned by Orton. At Backlash, Cena failed to regain the title in a fatal four-way elimination match, in which he was pinned by Orton. Triple H won the title during that match. During the match, Cena eliminated JBL, renewing their feud from 2005. Cena defeated JBL at Judgment Day and then at One Night Stand in a First Blood match. JBL, however, defeated him in a New York City Parking Lot Brawl at The Great American Bash in July.
On the August 4 episode of Raw, Cena became a World Tag Team Champion for a second time, teaming with Batista to defeat Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, but failed to retain the championship the following week against the former champions. Batista defeated Cena at SummerSlam; shortly after, he was named one of four contenders for CM Punk's World Heavyweight Championship in the Championship Scramble match at Unforgiven. He was replaced by Rey Mysterio, however, after Cena suffered a herniated disc in his neck, which required surgery. Cena underwent successful surgery to repair the injury.
Cena made his in-ring return at the November pay-per-view event, Survivor Series, defeating Chris Jericho to win his first World Heavyweight Championship. The two continued their rivalry up to Armageddon, where Cena retained his championship. Cena lost the championship at No Way Out to Edge, after Kofi Kingston was attacked by Edge, who took his place in the Elimination Chamber match. Cena was given an opportunity to regain the title at WrestleMania XXV in a triple threat match also involving Big Show, which Cena won.
On the August 4 episode of Raw, Cena became a World Tag Team Champion for a second time, teaming with Batista to defeat Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, but failed to retain the championship the following week against the former champions. Batista defeated Cena at SummerSlam; shortly after, he was named one of four contenders for CM Punk's World Heavyweight Championship in the Championship Scramble match at Unforgiven. He was replaced by Rey Mysterio, however, after Cena suffered a herniated disc in his neck, which required surgery. Cena underwent successful surgery to repair the injury.
Cena made his in-ring return at the November pay-per-view event, Survivor Series, defeating Chris Jericho to win his first World Heavyweight Championship. The two continued their rivalry up to Armageddon, where Cena retained his championship. Cena lost the championship at No Way Out to Edge, after Kofi Kingston was attacked by Edge, who took his place in the Elimination Chamber match. Cena was given an opportunity to regain the title at WrestleMania XXV in a triple threat match also involving Big Show, which Cena won.
Cena lost the championship back to Edge in a Last Man Standing match at Backlash after interference from Big Show, who chokeslammed Cena through a big spotlight. This resulted in Cena beginning a feud with Big Show in which Cena defeated Big Show at Judgment Day and at Extreme Rules in a submission match by applying the STFU.
At the July pay-per-view, Night of Champions, he participated in a triple threat match for the WWE Championship, which also involved Triple H and WWE Champion Randy Orton. Cena, however, did not win the match. Two months later, at Breaking Point, Cena defeated Randy Orton for the WWE Championship in an "I Quit" match to win his fourth WWE Championship. At Hell in a Cell, Cena lost the title back to Orton in a Hell in a Cell match. Three weeks later, at Bragging Rights, Cena defeated Orton in a 60-minute Iron Man match. Cena successfully defended the title against both Triple H and Shawn Michaels in a triple threat match at Survivor Series, but lost it to Sheamus at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs in a tables match.
Cena regained the title at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in an Elimination Chamber match. His reign was cut short after Mr. McMahon immediately made him defend the title against Batista, who won the title. Cena defeated Batista at WrestleMania XXVI for the title, and successfully defended it at Extreme Rules, in a Last Man Standing rematch. Cena faced Batista one more time, winning an "I Quit" match at Over the Limit, thus ending their long-time feud.
On the June 7, 2010 episode of Raw, Cena was suddenly thrust into a new storyline when during his main event match against CM Punk, he was attacked by all eight former contestants of the first season of NXT, with Wade Barrett as their leader. Punk, his follower Luke Gallows, and other personnel around the ring were attacked as well, but Cena took the worst of the attack and was carried out on a stretcher. This group later referred to itself as The Nexus.
At Fatal 4-Way, Cena lost the WWE Championship to Sheamus, in a fatal four-way match involving Edge and Randy Orton, after The Nexus interfered. Cena again lost to Sheamus in a steel cage match at Money in the Bank, after The Nexus again interfered. Cena, in retaliation to The Nexus, formed an alliance with Edge, Chris Jericho, John Morrison, R-Truth, The Great Khali, and Bret Hart. They defeated The Nexus at SummerSlam, with help from the returning Daniel Bryan, a former member of Nexus, who replaced Khali after he was injured.
Hoping to end The Nexus, Cena challenged Wade Barrett to a match at Hell in a Cell with the stipulations that if he were to lose, he would join The Nexus. After Barrett defeated Cena, he joined The Nexus, and was forced by the anonymous Raw general manager to follow their orders or be fired. Cena and fellow Nexus member David Otunga defeated Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre to win the WWE Tag Team Championship at Bragging Rights. Later that night, he was forced to help Barrett defeat Orton in a WWE Championship match, giving Barrett the disqualification win, but not the title. The following night on Raw, Cena and Otunga lost the WWE Tag Team Championship to fellow Nexus members Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel, when Barrett ordered Otunga to lay down and lose the title. At Survivor Series, Cena officiated a match for the WWE Championship between Wade Barrett and Randy Orton. Per stipulation, if Barrett didn't win the championship, Cena would be "fired" from the WWE.
Orton defeated Barrett to retain the title, thus terminating Cena's WWE contract. The following night on Raw, Cena gave a farewell speech, before costing Wade Barrett the WWE Championship by interfering in his rematch with Randy Orton. A week later, Cena invaded Raw, first as a spectator, but then attacked members of Nexus, explaining that he would still take down Nexus one by one, despite not having a job in the WWE anymore. On the December 13 episode of Raw, Cena was rehired by Barrett, in exchange that he would face him on December 19 at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs in a chairs match, which Cena won.
On the December 27 episode of Raw, The Nexus, minus Barrett, announced they were under new management and offered to bury the hatchet with Cena, to which he refused. The Nexus attacked Cena, leaving a Nexus armband in the ring during the process. As the group retreated, CM Punk, who had attacked Cena with a steel chair twice the week before, came to the ring to apparently attack Cena, but instead put on the armband left behind to symbolically announce his allegiance with The Nexus, becoming leader the following week by manipulating Barrett's banishment from the group. On the January 17 episode of Raw, Cena returned and faced Punk in a match, which ended in a no contest after Cena was attacked by the debuting Mason Ryan, who later joined The Nexus. Cena competed in the 2011 Royal Rumble match at the pay-per-view, which saw Cena eliminate most of the Nexus members, ending his feud with the stable.
During the same match at the Rumble, Cena made it to the final five before being eliminated by then WWE Champion The Miz, who wasn't part of the match. At the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Cena won the Elimination Chamber match to face Miz at WrestleMania XXVII for the WWE Championship.
On the February 21 episode of Raw, Cena replied to The Rock's comments about him from the previous week in rap form, as The Rock returned as the announced guest host of WrestleMania. That night, Cena was placed into a WWE Tag Team Championship match, with him teaming with The Miz, where they defeated Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater to become WWE Tag Team Champions. After the match, Wade Barrett invoked Gabriel and Slater's rematch clause straight away, where they won the title back after The Miz attacked Cena. Cena and The Rock continued to feud, on-air and through social networks. After weeks of insults, they finally met face-to-face in which Cena denied The Rock's claim to truly "love" the WWE, claiming that he used WWE only to jumpstart his acting career, a claim which Johnson angrily refuted. After a brief attack by The Miz and Alex Riley, Cena hit The Rock with the Attitude Adjustment.
At WrestleMania, Cena and Miz fought to a double countout. The Rock restarted the match and hit Cena with a Rock Bottom, allowing The Miz to retain the title.
The next night on Raw, Cena, in response to The Rock "screwing" him out of the title, agreed to face him in the main event of WrestleMania XXVIII, making it the first match to be set up for WrestleMania one year in advance. At Extreme Rules, Cena defeated The Miz and John Morrison to become WWE Champion. Cena went on to successfully defend the title against The Miz at Over the Limit in an "I Quit" match and R-Truth at Capitol Punishment.
Cena then began a feud with CM Punk, who was leaving the company at Money in the Bank. Punk was enraged at Cena and The Rock, calling them "phonies", already booked to headline the next WrestleMania, and demanded change. At Money in the Bank, CM Punk defeated Cena to win the WWE Championship, and left the company with the title. After Rey Mysterio won the WWE Championship in a tournament, Cena challenged and defeated him later that night to become WWE Champion for a record-breaking ninth time, only to be interrupted by CM Punk, who also claimed to be champion. Punk again defeated Cena at SummerSlam in a championship unification match.
Cena then began a feud with CM Punk, who was leaving the company at Money in the Bank. Punk was enraged at Cena and The Rock, calling them "phonies", already booked to headline the next WrestleMania, and demanded change. At Money in the Bank, CM Punk defeated Cena to win the WWE Championship, and left the company with the title. After Rey Mysterio won the WWE Championship in a tournament, Cena challenged and defeated him later that night to become WWE Champion for a record-breaking ninth time, only to be interrupted by CM Punk, who also claimed to be champion. Punk again defeated Cena at SummerSlam in a championship unification match.
After Alberto Del Rio became WWE Champion by cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase, Cena became number one contender and beat Del Rio at Night of Champions to win the WWE Championship for the tenth time.[163] He lost it back to Del Rio at Hell in a Cell, in a triple threat Hell in a Cell match also involving CM Punk.[164] Cena lost his rematch to Alberto Del Rio at Vengeance in a Last Man Standing match, due to interference by The Miz and R-Truth.[165] After a few weeks of Miz and Truth attacking Cena and other employees, Cena was allowed to choose his partner to challenge Miz and Truth at Survivor Series. Cena chose The Rock as his partner. Leading up to Survivor Series, Cena and The Rock continued to verbally assault each other, reiterating their points for their WrestleMania match, while attacking the "Awesome Truth". At the pay-per-view, after Cena and Rock defeated Miz and Truth, Rock gave Cena another Rock Bottom.
On the December 12 episode of Raw, during his match with Mark Henry, Cena was attacked by the returning Kane. Cena then began a feud with Kane, who continually attacked him, crediting his disgust for Cena's "Rise Above Hate" slogan and that Cena would need to embrace the hate in order to defeat The Rock at WrestleMania. Cena fought Kane to a draw at the Royal Rumble, and then defeated him in an Ambulance match at Elimination Chamber. After Elimination Chamber, Cena and The Rock verbally attacked each other. At WrestleMania XXVIII, Cena faced The Rock in the main event match which had been building for a year and was billed as "once in a lifetime". Cena claimed the match was the most important of his life and that winning was a necessity, since nobody remembers second place. The match ended when Cena attempted the People's Elbow on The Rock, and The Rock countered with a Rock Bottom for the pinfall.
On the December 12 episode of Raw, during his match with Mark Henry, Cena was attacked by the returning Kane. Cena then began a feud with Kane, who continually attacked him, crediting his disgust for Cena's "Rise Above Hate" slogan and that Cena would need to embrace the hate in order to defeat The Rock at WrestleMania. Cena fought Kane to a draw at the Royal Rumble, and then defeated him in an Ambulance match at Elimination Chamber. After Elimination Chamber, Cena and The Rock verbally attacked each other. At WrestleMania XXVIII, Cena faced The Rock in the main event match which had been building for a year and was billed as "once in a lifetime". Cena claimed the match was the most important of his life and that winning was a necessity, since nobody remembers second place. The match ended when Cena attempted the People's Elbow on The Rock, and The Rock countered with a Rock Bottom for the pinfall.
The following night on Raw, Cena addressed The Rock, admitting defeat and accepting the loss at WrestleMania; Cena then called The Rock the greatest WWE wrestler ever and invited The Rock to the ring so that he could congratulate him. However, Cena's call was answered instead by the returning Brock Lesnar, who then attacked Cena with an F-5. This resulted in Cena feuding with the Raw general manager John Laurinaitis, who revealed that he signed Lesnar to bring "legitimacy" to WWE and for Lesnar to become its "new face".
On April 29 at Extreme Rules, Cena defeated Lesnar in an Extreme Rules match. The next night on Raw, Cena was confronted and then attacked by Laurinaitis, who declared himself Cena's opponent at Over the Limit. Cena lost to Laurinaitis after Big Show interfered. Laurinaitis added that Cena would face Show at No Way Out and, dependent on the winner, either Cena or Laurinaitis would be fired. Cena won the match, then hit the Attitude Adjustment on Laurinaitis through the announce table. Mr. McMahon then fired Laurinaitis.
At Money in the Bank, Cena won his first Money in the Bank ladder match over Big Show, Chris Jericho, Kane and The Miz, earning a contract for a shot at the WWE Championship anytime within a year. At Raw 1000, Cena cashed in his contract on CM Punk, and won the match by disqualification after Big Show interfered, becoming the first person to cash in a Money in the Bank contract and not win a title. Show continued to attack Cena until The Rock arrived to make the save.
On April 29 at Extreme Rules, Cena defeated Lesnar in an Extreme Rules match. The next night on Raw, Cena was confronted and then attacked by Laurinaitis, who declared himself Cena's opponent at Over the Limit. Cena lost to Laurinaitis after Big Show interfered. Laurinaitis added that Cena would face Show at No Way Out and, dependent on the winner, either Cena or Laurinaitis would be fired. Cena won the match, then hit the Attitude Adjustment on Laurinaitis through the announce table. Mr. McMahon then fired Laurinaitis.
At Money in the Bank, Cena won his first Money in the Bank ladder match over Big Show, Chris Jericho, Kane and The Miz, earning a contract for a shot at the WWE Championship anytime within a year. At Raw 1000, Cena cashed in his contract on CM Punk, and won the match by disqualification after Big Show interfered, becoming the first person to cash in a Money in the Bank contract and not win a title. Show continued to attack Cena until The Rock arrived to make the save.
The following week on Raw, a WWE Championship number one contenders match between Cena and Show ended in a no contest due to interference from Punk. Following this, both men were entered in the championship match at SummerSlam by Raw general manager AJ Lee. At the event, Cena was unsuccessful as Punk would go on to retain the title. Over the next few weeks, Cena continued feuding with Punk by refusing to call him "best in the world" and fighting him to a draw at Night of Champions on September 16. On September 20, Cena was sidelined with a legitimate arm injury, rendering him inactive. Because of his injury, Cena was replaced by Ryback in a Hell in a Cell match for the WWE Championship at Hell in a Cell. On the November 5 episode of Raw, Cena and Ryback were announced as part of a triple threat match for Punk's WWE Championship at Survivor Series, while also starting a feud with Dolph Ziggler over an alleged relationship with AJ Lee. At the pay-per-view on November 19, Punk pinned Cena in the match to retain the championship. Cena continued to feud with Ziggler and on December 16, at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, lost to him in a ladder match for his World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank contract, after AJ turned on Cena. The following night on Raw, Cena teamed with Vickie Guerrero to face Ziggler and AJ in a mixed tag team match which ended in a disqualification after Cena was attacked by the debuting Big E Langston. Cena then defeated Ziggler on the January 7, 2013 episode of Raw in a singles match, and again in a steel cage match the following week, despite interference from AJ and Langston in both matches.
On January 27, Cena entered the Royal Rumble match at #19 and won after last eliminating Ryback, becoming the fourth wrestler (after Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold Steve Austin) to win multiple Rumble matches. The following night on Raw, Cena announced that he would pursue the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 29, after which, he would be assaulted by The Shield. The following week on Raw, Cena would gain vengeance on The Shield when he, along with Ryback and Sheamus, attacked the stable. This culminated in a six-man tag team match on February 17 at Elimination Chamber, where The Shield emerged victorious.
On the February 25 episode of Raw, Cena defeated CM Punk to reaffirm his status as number one contender for the Rock's WWE Championship. Cena then returned to his rivalry with The Rock, with Cena blaming his personal and professional troubles on his loss to The Rock the previous year, going so far as admitting his own vanity had cost him the match. On April 7 at WrestleMania 29, Cena defeated Rock in their rematch to win his eleventh WWE Championship. The following night on Raw, Cena began a rivalry with Ryback, after he saved Cena from a post-match assault from Mark Henry only to attack Cena himself. During his feud with Ryback, Cena suffered a legitimate achilles tendon injury, while also battling The Shield and facing them in losing efforts. On May 19 at Extreme Rules, Cena retained the WWE Championship against Ryback in a Last Man Standing match after Ryback rammed Cena and himself into the electric backdrop at the top of the ramp, resulting in a no contest. On June 16 at Payback, Cena defeated Ryback in a Three Stages of Hell match to retain the WWE Championship, with Cena losing the lumberjack match and winning the tables match and the Ambulance match
The following night on Raw, Cena was attacked by the returning Mark Henry, who feigned his "retirement", with a World's Strongest Slam, sparking a rivalry between the two. On July 15 at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, Cena defeated Henry via submission to retain the WWE Championship. The next night on Raw, new Raw general manager Brad Maddox announced that he would allow Cena to choose his own opponent for SummerSlam. Later in the night, after taking an informal poll of the live audience, he chose Daniel Bryan. On August 18 at the pay-per-view, Cena lost the WWE Championship to Bryan, with Triple H as the special guest referee, ending his reign at 133 days. The following night on Raw, Cena announced that he would undergo surgery for a triceps tear and would be out for four to six months.
On the October 7 episode of Raw, it was announced that Cena would return at Hell in a Cell for an opportunity at the World Heavyweight Championship. Cena defeated Alberto Del Rio at the pay-per-view on October 27 to win his third World Heavyweight Championship. The following night on Raw, Cena defeated Damien Sandow in his first title defense after Sandow attacked Cena before the match and cashed in his Money in the Bank contract. Cena successfully defended his title against Del Rio in a rematch at Survivor Series.
Next, Cena challenged then WWE Champion Randy Orton to unify their respective championships, with The Authority agreeing and arranging for a Tables, Ladders and Chairs title unification match at the TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view, which Cena lost. A rematch occurred at the Royal Rumble for the now unified WWE World Heavyweight Championship, where Cena lost after being distracted by The Wyatt Family. The next night on Raw, John Cena, Sheamus and Daniel Bryan won an Elimination Chamber qualifying match against The Shield by disqualification due to another attack by the Wyatts. At Elimination Chamber, The Wyatt Family interfered yet again in the Elimination Chamber match, causing Cena's elimination.
After Elimination Chamber, Bray Wyatt accepted Cena's challenge for a WrestleMania match, Wyatt wanted to prove that Cena's heroic act was a facade characteristic of "this era of lies" while further wanting to turn Cena into a "monster". At WrestleMania XXX, Cena successfully resisted the urge to become a "monster" and overcame interference from Luke Harper and Erick Rowan to defeat Wyatt.
On the October 7 episode of Raw, it was announced that Cena would return at Hell in a Cell for an opportunity at the World Heavyweight Championship. Cena defeated Alberto Del Rio at the pay-per-view on October 27 to win his third World Heavyweight Championship. The following night on Raw, Cena defeated Damien Sandow in his first title defense after Sandow attacked Cena before the match and cashed in his Money in the Bank contract. Cena successfully defended his title against Del Rio in a rematch at Survivor Series.
Next, Cena challenged then WWE Champion Randy Orton to unify their respective championships, with The Authority agreeing and arranging for a Tables, Ladders and Chairs title unification match at the TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view, which Cena lost. A rematch occurred at the Royal Rumble for the now unified WWE World Heavyweight Championship, where Cena lost after being distracted by The Wyatt Family. The next night on Raw, John Cena, Sheamus and Daniel Bryan won an Elimination Chamber qualifying match against The Shield by disqualification due to another attack by the Wyatts. At Elimination Chamber, The Wyatt Family interfered yet again in the Elimination Chamber match, causing Cena's elimination.
After Elimination Chamber, Bray Wyatt accepted Cena's challenge for a WrestleMania match, Wyatt wanted to prove that Cena's heroic act was a facade characteristic of "this era of lies" while further wanting to turn Cena into a "monster". At WrestleMania XXX, Cena successfully resisted the urge to become a "monster" and overcame interference from Luke Harper and Erick Rowan to defeat Wyatt.
The feud continued after WrestleMania based on the story that Wyatt was capturing Cena's fanbase, which was exemplified by Wyatt leading a children's choir to the ring on the April 28 episode of Raw, with the children later putting on sheep masks. At Extreme Rules, Wyatt defeated Cena in a steel cage match, after repeated interference from the rest of the Wyatt Family members and a demonic child. Cena's feud with Wyatt continued with a Last Man Standing match being set up for Payback, where Cena buried Wyatt under multiple equipment cases to win the match.
On the June 16 episode of Raw, Cena defeated Kane in a stretcher match to qualify for the ladder match for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Money in the Bank, where Cena won his 15th world championship. Cena then retained the title at Battleground in a fatal four-way match against Roman Reigns, Randy Orton and Kane.At SummerSlam, Cena lost the championship to Brock Lesnar in a squash match, during which Lesnar hit Cena with sixteen suplexes and two F-5s, ending his reign at 49 days. Cena invoked his title rematch clause against Lesnar for Night of Champions, nearly winning before Seth Rollins attacked him to cause a disqualification. Cena then began feuding with Dean Ambrose for the right to face Rollins at Hell in a Cell, but Ambrose got that right after beating Cena in a No Holds Barred Contract on a Pole match. Cena would instead face Randy Orton in a Hell in a Cell match to determine the number one contender to face Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, which Cena won.
On October 27 episode of Raw, Cena rejected The Authority's offer to join forces. This resulted in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination tag match between Team Cena and Team Authority at Survivor Series. Cena's team consisted of Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Erick Rowan and Ryback; At Survivor Series, Big Show turned on Cena, causing Cena's elimination, but Ziggler eventually won the match for Team Cena with the interfering Sting's help. Thus as per the match stipulation, The Authority were stripped from power and only Cena could bring them back. At TLC: Tables, Ladders, Chairs and Stairs, Cena defeated Rollins in a tables match to retain his WWE World Heavyweight Championship #1 contender status. It was then announced that Cena would face Lesnar for the title at the Royal Rumble. On the December 29 episode of Raw, Rollins and Big Show held guest host Edge hostage, forcing Cena to reinstate The Authority. On the January 5 episode of Raw, The Authority added Rollins to the title match at the Royal Rumble involving Cena and Lesnar, and Ziggler, Ryback and Rowan were "fired" for joining Team Cena at Survivor Series. On the 19 January episode of Raw, Cena won a handicap match against Rollins, Big Show and Kane to retain his title shot at the Royal Rumble and win back the jobs of Ziggler, Ryback and Rowan. At the Royal Rumble, Cena was unsuccessful in capturing the title.
On the June 16 episode of Raw, Cena defeated Kane in a stretcher match to qualify for the ladder match for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Money in the Bank, where Cena won his 15th world championship. Cena then retained the title at Battleground in a fatal four-way match against Roman Reigns, Randy Orton and Kane.At SummerSlam, Cena lost the championship to Brock Lesnar in a squash match, during which Lesnar hit Cena with sixteen suplexes and two F-5s, ending his reign at 49 days. Cena invoked his title rematch clause against Lesnar for Night of Champions, nearly winning before Seth Rollins attacked him to cause a disqualification. Cena then began feuding with Dean Ambrose for the right to face Rollins at Hell in a Cell, but Ambrose got that right after beating Cena in a No Holds Barred Contract on a Pole match. Cena would instead face Randy Orton in a Hell in a Cell match to determine the number one contender to face Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, which Cena won.
On October 27 episode of Raw, Cena rejected The Authority's offer to join forces. This resulted in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination tag match between Team Cena and Team Authority at Survivor Series. Cena's team consisted of Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Erick Rowan and Ryback; At Survivor Series, Big Show turned on Cena, causing Cena's elimination, but Ziggler eventually won the match for Team Cena with the interfering Sting's help. Thus as per the match stipulation, The Authority were stripped from power and only Cena could bring them back. At TLC: Tables, Ladders, Chairs and Stairs, Cena defeated Rollins in a tables match to retain his WWE World Heavyweight Championship #1 contender status. It was then announced that Cena would face Lesnar for the title at the Royal Rumble. On the December 29 episode of Raw, Rollins and Big Show held guest host Edge hostage, forcing Cena to reinstate The Authority. On the January 5 episode of Raw, The Authority added Rollins to the title match at the Royal Rumble involving Cena and Lesnar, and Ziggler, Ryback and Rowan were "fired" for joining Team Cena at Survivor Series. On the 19 January episode of Raw, Cena won a handicap match against Rollins, Big Show and Kane to retain his title shot at the Royal Rumble and win back the jobs of Ziggler, Ryback and Rowan. At the Royal Rumble, Cena was unsuccessful in capturing the title.
Following the Royal Rumble, Cena began feuding with then United States Champion Rusev. In the beginning of the feud, Cena was depicted as an "old veteran". At Fastlane, Rusev won after Cena passed out to Rusev's submission, the Accolade, after Rusev hit Cena with a low blow following a distraction from his manager Lana. In the following weeks, Cena challenged Rusev to a rematch, which was declined. Stephanie McMahon decreed that Cena would not compete at WrestleMania 31 unless Rusev agreed to a match. On the March 9 episode of Raw, Cena attacked Rusev, refusing to release the STF submission hold. This continued until Lana granted Cena a title rematch at WrestleMania against Rusev.
Cena went on to defeat Rusev to win the United States Championship for the fourth time, marking Rusev's first pinfall loss in the main roster. The following night on Raw, Cena announced that he would issue an open challenge each week on Raw with his United States Championship on the line; he successfully defended his title against the likes of Dean Ambrose, Stardust, Bad News Barrett, Kane, Sami Zayn, Neville, Zack Ryder and Cesaro. Cena retained the title against Rusev in a Russian Chain match at Extreme Rules and a "I Quit" match at Payback. The following night on Raw, Cena was attacked by then NXT Champion Kevin Owens, setting up a Champion vs. Champion match between Cena and Owens at Elimination Chamber. Owens defeated Cena cleanly, but Cena defeated Owens in a rematch at Money in the Bank. Cena then defeated Owens at Battleground to retain the United States Championship and end the feud.
Cena then resumed his feud with then WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, with Rollins refusing Cena's challenges for the title. The Authority instead forced Cena to defend the United States Championship against Rollins. Cena defeated Rollins despite suffering a broken nose during the match. Cena then faced Rollins in a "Winner Takes All" match at SummerSlam, for both the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and the United States Championship. Rollins defeated Cena after guest host Jon Stewart, appearing to side with Cena, instead attacked Cena with a steel chair, ending Cena's reign as United States Champion at 147 days.
Cena went on to defeat Rusev to win the United States Championship for the fourth time, marking Rusev's first pinfall loss in the main roster. The following night on Raw, Cena announced that he would issue an open challenge each week on Raw with his United States Championship on the line; he successfully defended his title against the likes of Dean Ambrose, Stardust, Bad News Barrett, Kane, Sami Zayn, Neville, Zack Ryder and Cesaro. Cena retained the title against Rusev in a Russian Chain match at Extreme Rules and a "I Quit" match at Payback. The following night on Raw, Cena was attacked by then NXT Champion Kevin Owens, setting up a Champion vs. Champion match between Cena and Owens at Elimination Chamber. Owens defeated Cena cleanly, but Cena defeated Owens in a rematch at Money in the Bank. Cena then defeated Owens at Battleground to retain the United States Championship and end the feud.
Cena then resumed his feud with then WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, with Rollins refusing Cena's challenges for the title. The Authority instead forced Cena to defend the United States Championship against Rollins. Cena defeated Rollins despite suffering a broken nose during the match. Cena then faced Rollins in a "Winner Takes All" match at SummerSlam, for both the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and the United States Championship. Rollins defeated Cena after guest host Jon Stewart, appearing to side with Cena, instead attacked Cena with a steel chair, ending Cena's reign as United States Champion at 147 days.
On the August 31 episode of Raw, Cena invoked his rematch clause to face Rollins for the United States Championship at Night of Champions, where he defeated Rollins to win the title for the fifth time, a record in the WWE ownership era of the title. Cena then retained the title against Rollins following night on Raw and then in a steel cage match at WWE Live from Madison Square Garden. At Hell in a Cell, Cena lost the title to the returning Alberto Del Rio in an open challenge. Following the pay-per-view, Cena went on a hiatus. Cena returned on the December 28 episode of Raw, defeating Del Rio by disqualification in a rematch for the title.
On January 7, 2016, Cena underwent surgery on a shoulder injury, which would keep him out of action for an undisclosed amount of time.
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